Breaking Ranks II is the most powerful and practical resource available anywhere. It is a must-read handbook for all those working on high school... reform. It is superb .

Breaking Ranks brings a new and deeply personal perspective to the war in Iraq by looking into the lives of six veterans who turned against the war they... helped to fight. Based on extensive interviews with each of the six, the book relates why they enlisted, their experiences in training and in early missions, their tours of combat, and what has happened to them since returning home. The compelling stories of this diverse cross section of the military recount how each journey to Iraq began with the sincere desire to do good. Matthew Gutmann and Catherine Anne Lutz show how each individual's experiences led to new moral and political understandings and ultimately to opposing the war.

Every day in communities across America hundreds of committees, boards, church groups, and social clubs hold meetings where they spend their time... engaged in shouting matches and acrimonious debate. Whether they are aware of it or not, the procedures that most such groups rely on to reach decisions were first laid out as Robert's Rules more than 150 years ago by an officer in the U.S. Army's Corps of Engineers. Its arcane rituals of parliamentary procedure and majority rule usually produce a victorious majority and a very dissatisfied minority that expects to raise its concerns, again, at the next possible meeting. Breaking Robert's Rules clearly spells out how any group can work together effectively. After briefly explaining the problems created by Robert's Rules, the guide outlines the five key steps toward consensus building, and addresses the specific problems that often get in the way of a group's progress. Appendices include a basic one page "Handy Guide" that can be distributed at meetings and a case study demonstrating how the ideas presented in the book can also be applied in a corporate context. Written in a non-technical and engaging style, and containing clear ideas and instructions that anyone can understand and use, this one-of-a-kind guide will prove an essential tool for any group desperate to find ways of making their meetings more effective. In addition, neighborhood associations, ad hoc committees, social clubs, and other informal groups lacking a clear hierarchy will find solid advice on how to move forward without resorting to "majority rules" or bickering over who will take leadership positions. Bound to become a classic, Breaking Robert's Rules will change the way you hold meetings forever, paving the way for efficiency, efficacy, and peaceful decision making.

One of Horn Book’s Best Fiction Books of 2011  Sasha Zaichik has known the laws of the Soviet Young Pioneers since the age of six:The Young Pioneer... is devoted to Comrade Stalin, the Communist Party, and Communism.A Young Pioneer is a reliable comrade and always acts according to conscience.A Young Pioneer has a right to criticize shortcomings.But now that it is finally time to join the Young Pioneers, the day Sasha has awaited for so long, everything seems to go awry. He breaks a classmate's glasses with a snowball. He accidentally damages a bust of Stalin in the school hallway.  And worst of all, his father, the best Communist he knows, was arrested just last night.  This moving story of a ten-year-old boy's world shattering is masterful in its simplicity, powerful in its message, and heartbreaking in its plausibility.

"I'm going to break the ashes," yelled one daily drinker to another as their paths crossed early in the morning in the Sri Lankan village Michele Ruth... Gamburd calls Naeaegama. The drinker's cryptic comment compared the warming power of alcohol-in the form of his first shot of kasippu, the local moonshine-with the rekindled heat of a kitchen fire. As the adverse effects of globalization have brought poverty to many areas of the world, more people, particularly men, have increased their use and abuse of alcohol. Despite Buddhist prohibitions against the consumption of mind-altering substances, men in Naeaegama are drinking more, at a younger age, and the number of problem drinkers has begun to grow.In Breaking the Ashes, Gamburd explores the changing role of alcohol. Her account is populated with lively characters, many of whom Gamburd has known since visiting the village for the first time as a child. In wonderfully clear prose Gamburd offers readers an understanding of the cultural context for social and antisocial alcohol consumption, insight into everyday and ceremonial drinking in Naeaegama, and an overview of the production of illicit alcohol. Breaking the Ashes includes a discussion of the key economic aspects that fuel conflicts between husbands and wives, moonshine-makers and police. Addressing Western and indigenous ways to conceptualize and treat alcohol dependence, Gamburd explores the repercussions-at the family as well as the community level-of alcohol's abuse.

In Breaking the Bowls, the sequel to Paradoxes of Gender, Judith Lorber shows the cracks, anomalies, and resistances that are breaking down the... gendered social order in Western post-industrial societies and lays out how we can take this process further by deliberate degendering.Lorber argues that it is time to rebel against gender as a social institution—to challenge its basic processes and practices. Feminists have tried to restructure and change the dynamics of interaction between women and men, but they have not pushed their agenda to the point of calling for the abolition of gender boundaries and categories. Breaking the Bowls explores why undoing gender must be the ultimate feminist goal and how that goal can be reached. Breaking the Bowls is part of the Contemporary Societies series.

Are African-Americans still slaves? Why can't Black folks get together? What is the psychological consequence for Blacks and Whites of picturing God... as a Caucasian? Learn to break the chains of your mental slavery with this new book by one of the world's outstanding experts on the African-American mind.

Drama / 7m, 2f / Unit set Derek Jacobi took London and Broadway by storm in this exceptional biographical drama about a man who broke too many codes:... the eccentric genius Alan Turing who played a major role in winning the World War II; he broke the complex German code called Enigma, enabling allied forces to foresee German maneuvers. Since his work was classified top secret for years after the war, no one knew how much was owed to him when he was put on trial for breaking another code the taboo against homosexuality. Turing, who was also the first to conceive of computers, was convicted of the criminal act of homosexuality and sentenced to undergo hormone treatments which left him physically and mentally debilitated. He died a suicide, forgotten and alone. This play is about who he was, what happened to him and why. "Powerful, rivetting drama." N.Y. Daily News "Elegant and poignant." Time Magazine "The most important serious play of the season." Christian Science Monitor

Drama / 7m, 2f / Unit set Derek Jacobi took London and Broadway by storm in this exceptional biographical drama about a man who broke too many codes:... the eccentric genius Alan Turing who played a major role in winning the World War II; he broke the complex German code called Enigma, enabling allied forces to foresee German maneuvers. Since his work was classified top secret for years after the war, no one knew how much was owed to him when he was put on trial for breaking another code the taboo against homosexuality. Turing, who was also the first to conceive of computers, was convicted of the criminal act of homosexuality and sentenced to undergo hormone treatments which left him physically and mentally debilitated. He died a suicide, forgotten and alone. This play is about who he was, what happened to him and why. "Powerful, rivetting drama." N.Y. Daily News "Elegant and poignant." Time Magazine "The most important serious play of the season." Christian Science Monitor

  In his most important book to date, Gentry combines cutting-edge, brain-based research with sound classroom knowledge to explore early literacy... development. Starting with the crucial interrelationship of reading and writing, he looks inside and out at the minds of emerging readers to find out how they construct the idea and process of reading. Then he presents a blueprint for instruction and early intervention that combines his new findings with best-practice teaching. His comprehensive instructional model focuses on building the specific skills, capacities, and experiences kids need by teaching them to write as they learn to read. Gentry gives you everything you need to implement successful beginning reading strategies as well as a variety of effective tips for supporting readers and writers throughout the primary grades

Civil wars attract much less attention than international wars but they are becoming increasingly common and typically go on for years. Where... development succeeds, countries become progressively safer from violent conflict, making subsequent development easier. Where development fails countries can become trapped in a vicious circle: war wrecks the economy and increases the risk of further war. This new World Bank Policy Research Report challenges the belief that civil wars are inevitable and proposes an agenda for global action.

This book explains in plain terms how developers and planners can involve the community in the development process using the latest community engagement... tools. It describes why, in these days of more complex projects and development approval procedures, it pays to win citizen support rather than fight opposition. It details how collaborative community engagement processes are organized and managed and includes detailed check lists and seven case studies. Publication of this book was supported by a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Ed Stetzer and David Putman’s popular church leadership book Breaking the Missional Code is helping pastors and ministry staff to guide their... collective congregations toward becoming missionaries in their communities. But the need remains for this concept to be further defined at an individual level.  Breaking the Discipleship Code, written this time by Putman with a foreword from Stetzer, opens the door to a greater understanding of what it means to personally be a missional follower of Jesus in relation to every aspect of our changing world. Balancing cultural relevance with biblical faithfulness, the book invites ordinary believers, whether on Wall Street or in a Waffle House, next door or across the ocean, to begin having an extraordinary spiritual impact in their unique context. Endorsements: “A timely reminder of our most important task: making disciples.” —Mark Batterson, author of In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day “If you lead the disciple-making process of a local church or simply long to be a disciple of Jesus, read Breaking the Discipleship Code to discover how to live like Jesus, love like Jesus, and leave behind what Jesus left behind.” —Dave Ferguson, coauthor of The Big Idea